U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Brock Bierman will travel to Kosovo, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia February 14 - March 8. This will be Assistant Administrator Bierman's first visit to the region since joining USAID earlier this year.

Today the President released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Budget request of $39.3 billion for the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This Budget supports the President's commitment to serve the needs of American citizens, ensure their safety, promote their prosperity, preserve their rights, and defend their values, as outlined in the President's National Security Strategy.

United States Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green will travel to Germany and to the United Kingdom February 14-20.

In Germany, he will participate in the annual Africa Strategic Integration Conference (ASIC) in Garmisch, and also meet with USAID Mission Directors from the Middle East and Africa. He will then travel to Munich to attend the 2018 Munich Security Conference.

The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Budget for USAID supports the President’s commitment to serve the needs of American citizens, ensure their safety, promote their prosperity, preserve their rights, and defend their values, as outlined in the President’s National Security Strategy. It advances U.S. foreign policy goals through targeted investments that protect U.S. national security, and furthers American interests at home and abroad.

Today’s request for USAID is oriented towards our goal of supporting partners in their journey to become more self-reliant, to build their capacity for leading their own development and growth. By reducing the reach of conflict, preventing the spread of pandemic disease, and counteracting the drivers of violence, instability, transnational crime and other security threats, the priorities laid out in this request will help us in that mission. It’s designed to promote American prosperity through investments that expand markets for American goods, create a level playing field for American businesses, support more stable, resilient, and democratic societies, and address crises. The request reaffirms that we will always stand with people when disaster strikes or crisis emerges, because that’s who we are as Americans. We will remain the world leader in humanitarian assistance, but will also call on others to do their part and work relentlessly to assure that assistance is delivered as effectively and as efficiently as possible.

The United States welcomes reports that four U.S.-funded World Food Programme mobile cranes have now begun offloading supplies at Yemen's Hudaydah port. The additional capacity of these cranes will cut in half the average time it takes to unload ships, allowing food, medicine, and other necessities to reach people in need more quickly.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green met on Wednesday with President Jimmy Morales of Guatemala. Administrator Green congratulated President Morales on Guatemala's efforts to combat crime and violence. The President thanked the United States for its support to improve citizen security in Guatemala, which has contributed to an overall reduction in the national homicide rate.

This week marks the 15th anniversary of the announcement by President George W. Bush of the creation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) during the 2003 State of the Union address.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green met on Thursday with The Honorable Kai Mykkänen, MP, Finland's Minister for Foreign Trade and Development. They discussed opportunities for increasing private-sector engagement and results-oriented, enterprise-driven development to support countries on their journey towards self-reliance.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant to the Administrator for the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs, Greg Huger, recently traveled to Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan in support of the administration's South Asia Strategy.

First, I am impressed every day by the skill, professionalism, but, most of all, dedication of our team all around the world. From our Foreign Service Nationals, to our staff in the field, to those of you here at headquarters: you -- all of you -- are the principle reason why USAID is a vital tool in American global leadership. Not the buildings, the budgets, not even our most innovative programs. Really and truly, it's your skills and your passion, what you bring to your job each and every day, that's really what does the most to lift lives in troubled lands all around the world.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment Michelle Bekkering will travel to Dakar, Senegal from January 30 to February 2, 2018.

As the world’s largest humanitarian donor, the United States has provided nearly $7.7 billion in humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people, since the start of the crisis in 2011. This aid reflects the continued generosity of the American people and demonstrates the United States’ steadfast commitment to addressing the unprecedented magnitude of suffering in Syria and the region. In addition to providing humanitarian assistance, including emergency food, water, shelter, and health services, the United States is also providing stabilization assistance.

So, as many of us know, there have been some tremendous progress in maternal and child health over the past two decades thanks in part to the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals. However a huge challenge remains. For example, according to a recent report, 30 million newborns are expected to die between now and 2030. That's a shocking number, 30 million newborn. Tackling this challenge and the other SDGs will require new tools, partnerships, and innovation to fill the estimated $2.5 annual -- $2.5 trillion annual investment gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green and Mastercard Executive Vice President of Public-Private Partnerships Tara Nathan co-chaired the launch of the Smart Communities Coalition (SCC) today at the World Economic Forum in Davos. SCC will address technology challenges that refugees and host communities face, and increase their Internet connectivity, digital-payment capabilities, and energy access within refugee settlements. SCC will improve camp-management and service delivery, and help empower refugees to provide for themselves and their families.

United States Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green will travel to Davos, Switzerland, as part of the Presidential Delegation, to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting January 23-26.

Obviously, first off, as Administrator of five months and a couple of weeks in, I do my best to get around to each of the regions to visit our teams. It's a chance to listen, let them kick the tires a little bit, ask about my vision for the agency, what I hear back in Washington, what I see as the challenges ahead. This particular mission, whether it be literally the mission here in Baghdad, or the mission that -- the operation we're going to be visiting tomorrow, of course takes on a very special significance given what it is -- what they are up against and given this moment in history.

So, it's also a chance for me to come and see for myself some things, but also hear from our team, and our partners doing extraordinarily important work, whether it be the humanitarian work that we do, stabilization work that we do, that which we have done here, and that which brave men and women are doing right now, down in Syria. Of course, we'll see many of them tomorrow. So, that's what brings me here. My first trip here in about a dozen years. That was the last time I was in Iraq.

Well, first off, my impression is as we drove through Raqqa was really the incredible human spirit. And, for me, it's a reminder of what you've all been talking about: that if we can play a role in helping to restore essential services, people can go home, people can go to work, and Raqqa can become what, I think, can be a great city.

Today, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green traveled to Raqqa, Syria with General Joseph Votel, Commander of U.S. Central Command. Administrator Green is the highest-ranking civilian from the U.S. Government to visit Syria since the conflict began in 2011.